Recommended Posts

I got several PMs regarding staying in or near Chumphon Town and for a while I thought about putting something comprehensive together. Not much seems to be written on the subject, I kept procrastinating and finally decided with the floods and all that I would compile most of what I have here.

The focus will be on saving money, where to shop, etc. The more expensive options are pretty obvious anyway.

This overview map should give you a basic reference point for Chumphon Town (Mueang Chumphon)

Housing.

Thung Wua Lang (or Tung Wua Laen) Beach is located about 15 km from chumphon town. Take Hwy 3180 and follow the signs. There are bungalos between 3000-5000 baht (no air) monthly and upwards from there. If air con, add 3000 baht/mo There are some townhomes near Ok Mai restaurant off beach road for 12000/mo including gas. electric, air, strong hot water. Cheaper places exist around Sa phli (thung wua laen) best to rent motorcycle and drive around. If you run into farangs nearby, ask for their point of view. Actually I had one guy and his wife who took me around the beach and some nearby areas to look at housing...but your thai significant other should do the talking. There are 5 gueshouses near the beach that had 300-500 daily rooms (5,000 baht/mo rooms) with air and clean. (Albatross hotel, Maia Guesthouse, Seabeach Bungalow [083 172 9196]; Albatross has free wifi, so do most of the bars). Further down there was bungalow I think for 10,000 baht/mo, but included wifi. The Good Bar even has some small fan rooms for 20 baht. Seabeach also has showers-only for 10 baht.

Electricity tends to go out in Sa Phli with heavy, extended rain for anywhere between 20 seconds and 3 hours. I would say between 2-8 times a month, depending on rainy season. This does not happen in chumphon town, or so I hear.

There is another beach near Chumphon Pak-nam or Praknam (15km from chumphon town, when hwy 327 deadends into the town (Esso gas station), turn right onto hwy 4001 and then continue onto 4119 to the pier). The beach isn't as beautiful, but has a resort with a golf course if you are into that (Novatel). There was only one place on the beach that had monthly rates, it was kind of new: Siritip Guesthouse (077 521024). But it was the only one that was right on the water and was brand new looking. Both places you have to go past the pier and stay on the beach road; you'll eventually find it. I'm sure there are plenty of apartments, houses, and hotels, I never fully looked at everything.

In chumphon town, there are places throughout the town. There was one place for 9000 10000 baht with 2 bedroom, air con in all 3 rooms, full size fridge, and electric included (and wifi). But there were only 3 houses and we were looking at the last house and decided to travel to Bangkok at the last minute. It's probably taken by now, but they have enough land to build several more places. Maybe enough for 12 small houses altogether. It was located behind the Chumphon hospital, behind a large school or campus looking complex (it's hard to describe without drawing it). Down the road from that place there were some million-baht houses/townhouses being built.

There is another place near a small gas station off the night market road (soi 3?) where there are 2-3 bedroom houses for 3-6000 baht....several foreigners stay there. Then at another part of chumphon town, near the main road that you use for Big C/Tesco, there is a place called sunnyville. Several foreigners also stay there. Coming from Big C on the main road hwy 347, you get to "5 points" traffic light (one road is a shortcut for motorcycles only to hop the railroad tracks). Continue straight through the light on hwy 347 and veer left for the underpass u-turn. On the other half of the u-turn, you'll see a sign for Asia Highway. Make a left (i think soi 15). about 3km in, sunnyville is on the left. There are two halves to sunnyville with two different entrances. The one with English is the newer houses they are building. The other side has older houses. Two separate entrances (one does NOT connect with the other yet) In fact, I was looking at a 3 br for about 4500 baht/mo + electric. It had a new a/c unit also, and a bed in the master bedroom. I decided not to take it, and it was swooped up a few days later.

There are several apartments, houses all around chumphon town, but the new ones tend to fill very quickly. The best thing to do is to rent motorbike at FAME or if you stay at thung wua lang, rent motorbike somewhere on the beach (OK mai) and drive around for a couple of days. Have your thai friend talk to friends and others around the town.

Backpackers. Fame/Farang Bar and a couple of other places have those minimal fan rooms for under 15-25 baht.

Transportation

There are baht buses for the typical price. I believe it is 30 baht to go to Thung Wua Laen Beach road from chumphon town. I never road in one, always used motorbike. It does tend to fill up when school is out.

The train station is located about 2/3s KM from Ocean Mall 1/2 km from the "Tourist information center" (seems like a private tour company), if you are coming in from that way. Good to pick up a map or ask/tip for directions at the "Tourist information center". It's at the corner of the crossroads between the night market street and hwy 3180 that goes to Thung Wua Laen Beach).

Rent Motorbike. Fame tour and Farang Bar are the only 2 that I know of that have a consistent setup in chumphon town. Thung Wua Laen Beach has rentals throughout beach road. Best to check with Ok Mai/Pirates Cafe first.

Buses/Vans within Chumphon province are usually located down the street from the Train station about 1KM (past the PTT gas station).

The bigger buses for going inter-province there are 3 companies that I know of. The one I usually use is Suannatee Tour (thairoute.com 077-501-535, 077-504-901 or bangkok 022-696-999) . Cheapest but good service. Payment via 7-11 is ok, which really helps out in bangkok if you did not buy onwards travel ahead of time). This bus station is on the same road parallel with the train station, about 2 km from train station. If everyone checks in early, they will leave early. 404 baht for 32 seat VIP to Bangkok, which leaves @ 2200 sharp daily. Book 2-3 days prior to guarantee your seat. Sometimes 1 week or more prior for holidays.

2nd bus service is located in Chumphon town near the TMB. There is a big side street between 7-11 and TMB on the opposite side. In that side street is the bus station. You cannot miss it. I think their VIP to bangkok is 100 baht more, but now they may have some 24 seaters. Don't have their #.

3rd bus station is located outside the town on HWY 41. Take Hwy 327 (Big C / Tesco) to exit Chumphon Town. Make Left on Hwy 41 as if going to Surat Thani. The Bus station is about 4 Km south on hwy 41 on the opposite side (North side), so u-turn is required. The only reason why I know about that station. is because my girlfriend had to go to Ubon RachaThani (Issan, near Khemarat) and that station is the only one that actually went directly to Ubon bypassing bangkok. 080-525-6890. I doubt they speak any english, but on the board I saw that they went all over thailand between both sides of the terminal. There was a banner elsewhere in the bus terminal for phuket-pattaya.com, I can only assume that company 3 stops in that bus station.

Airplane travel to Chumphon is very limited. The Chumphon airport in Pathio has only one company flying out of Don Muaeng airport (Solar Air) Tickets are 3000 but may have promotions down to 2200 baht one way + the van to take you to the beach or to Chumphon town. Surprised more air companies don't do touch-and-gos on their way further south. That would make the airport busier. So it seems bus/air travel is much more common in Chumphon

Shopping/Markets

Ocean Mall, Big C, Tesco, Makro, HomeMart (2) are the major shopping centers. Everything else is around and about. No 7-11s in Sa Phli, only 1 ATM (Kasikorn) at the Saphli market. There is a 7-11 in Pathio not far from police station. There is a couple of 7-11s in Chumphon Paknam. The majority of 7-11s are in Chumphon town.

Sapli has a very small afternoon/evening market, with a big market on Sunday afternoon. There is a big market in Pathio on thursdays by the railroad station (Pathio about 16 km from Thung wua laen beach). When going from thung wua laen back into chumphon town about 9km or so on the right, there is a small market on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the afternoon near an intersection with a single flashing light.

In chumphon town, there is the night market every afternoon/evening on night market road with plenty of street vendors, with a couple of the days being bigger (I think Wed, Thurs, Sat). During the day, there is some street vendors along the road where Chumphon Hospital is. Then make a right going towards TMB bank and there are more street vendors catching the kids during and after school. before TMB bank and before 7-11 there is a covered produce/meat market that is opened daily but is more of a morning/early afternoon market. More street vendors near the same 7-11.

Down the street from the Farang Bar, there is another covered market that is open All day, with some vendors working either half of the day.

On the way to Chumphon Paknam next to a 7-11 there is a afternoon/evening market on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Banking

Bangkok Bank, Krung Thai (light blue), Siam Commercial Bank (purple), and Ayudhya (yellow) bank have Ocean mall and/or Tesco/Big C locations. All other banks have standalone branches and close at 3:30, 4pm or Kasikorn closes at 5pm. TMB is open 7 days a week apparently.

There is two AEON atm machines located at AEON branch about 150 meters from Ocean Mall, on the same road as night market. open from 9am-9pm mon-fri and 9am-7pm sat/sun. be careful of the first of the month, or sometimes after "rush hour" that place is packed with thai people paying their AEON bill. But now they have one of the representatives help the people whose thai baht get rejected by the machine. People will try the same bill (literally) 10 times and it was seriously holding up the line. Other than that, the office is dead and you walk away with your cash without having to pay the 150 baht atm fee.

I always go to the bank(s) in Ocean or Tesco/Big C right after and swap some of my 1000 bills for 100s, 50s, 20s. Good idea to have, especially if you live away from the town and want to spend money at the local markets.

I have not seen a private money exchanger in chumphon town. Not sure if they exist. FAME tour will charge you $15 for a $10 bill if you do not have your own. The big banks most likely will NOT have those smaller bills on hand. So if you might feel the need to do a visa run, bring a spare one with you, or just pay them the extra 5 bucks. Optionally, you may exchange when you visit to other cities.

Visa Run

Fame Tour is the place to go. It is about 300m or so from the Tourist information Center. The Burma visa run from Ranong costs 650 baht if you do the morning run (05:30) or 750 baht for afternoon (12:30). The $10 bill is extra 450 baht, or bring your own (recommended, but no known money exchangers in chumphon town ) It is not nearly the mad dash driving that is required from Phuket >> Ranong, A little over Two hours each way and there is 1 stop for toilet. Plenty of Laos people sometimes fill up the bus, so try to book at least 2 days in advance. Be on time. They no longer pickup at the beach. You must find your own way down to FAME tour if you stay outside chumphon town

Speaking of visa run, every 2nd Tuesday of the month, Tesco lotus has immigration official come from 8am-4pm to do 90 day extensions and other minor visa work. It's worth it to visit once and see if your visa can be stamped there. Tons of Lao and Cambodia people show up there. But only once a month Otherwise, Ranong is the place to go.

Internet:

3 choices currently for high-speed: CAT CDMA, ToT landline, and 3BB. 3BB is fairly new, and I hear it is very fast (right now) and they are actually giving the true 1Mb up with their 9Mb down. ToT seems to be having a problem wanting to give me 1Mb UP. They keep capping it at 1/2 Mb UP. I'm having no problem with 9Mb down.

CAT CDMA is acceptable, and you can take it with you. It's a good backup when electricity goes down or landline internet is down for whatever reasons. 9Mb/1Mb up is appx 890/mo, 1-year contract. Sometimes there are discounts for new customers or if you pay in full, but it's rare.

For edge, you have the usual suspects: AIS, TRUE and DTAC. Neither of them look like they are making plans for 3g expansion in the area anytime soon. Who knows, Not sure where the DTAC store is, but near ToT main office (across from FAME tour) there are TrueMove and Telewiz shop. In Tesco 2nd floor, There is also Truemove. I'm trying to remember of Telewiz is in Big C or Tesco.

Nightlife:

Every night there is the night market. There are certain days where it is busier than others (I think Wed, Thurs, and Sat). A lot of backpackers and tourists pass through Farang Bar and Fame Tour as they are are the only two places that regularly serve western meals, free wifi, decent English. Never went to any of the thai clubs, although they are around the town if you ride around long enough. Many of them appear to be on the road parallel to the train station, with one right in front of the train station. There was one Karaoke bar on the outbound street of Ocean Mall (back towards night market street) that had some ladies, if you are into that sort of thing. Couldn't find any more of those places openly. There are also few bars on Tung Wua Laen beach.

Other:

Post office there is only 1 in Chumphon town (I think). There is one in Sa Phli right shortly before the mini-bridge that takes you to the Saphli market. Whenever I am shipping package overseas using any type of special request (like textbook rate), I found it easiest to bring the laptop with wireless internet with you and show them what you want. You can select the country in English and see which service you want, then switch to thai version, and they *should* match. Then when they weight the package, you can just type in the gram weight and recalculate to verify. The price should be about the same +-10 baht.

One woman that works at Pirates Cafe speaks German and the boss speaks French. The Ok Mai guy speaks French also, so something different for the English or Thai-challenged.

Many people come to dive, bicycle, or kite surf. Just ask around where the best spots are.

So in summary, thung wua laen may be western enough for you after all. Very quiet out here, yet just enough farang to interact with if needed. Definitely NOT pattaya, Bangkok, or Patong Beach. But Chumphon town does have a Tesco, Big C, and Makro. 3-4 years ago, they did not: Ocean mall was the only thing going. Chumphon town has a lot of potential if the airport gets busy enough. It already has potential now, and if it had a Major cineplex, i wouldn't have to go to Bangkok. But then again, a trip outside every now and then does not kill you. And I do like Siam Paragon IMAX theatre. The airport would add additional traffic. But right now, Chumphon is good enough to clear your head and think. This is one of those places where if you are a miser and penny pincher, you could get about 2-4 years living on $10,000 usd. it's a good compromise between Pattaya/Patong Beach and living in the sticks.

In all honesty, patong beach wasn't so bad. Neither was pattaya (I only stayed there for a week . I miss the baht busses and the fact that everything was accessible and fairlycheap.) There is a baht bus here, but it is definitely a night-day difference.

And I decided after writing so much to detail two more maps that puts this all in perspective:

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

My wife originates from just outside chumpon,and we now have a young baby as well.We currently live in pattaya and have been searching for a place to live other than patts.After travelling around thailand and finally visiting chumpon,i must say it is a beautiful area to live,and thanks to the effort of maat for detailing the info he has(which is extremely hard to find on the net)maybe more expats will look at chumpon and beaches as a future place to live.We will come down again in a few months for another look.Thanks again maat,it will make it alot easier for me to navigate my way around

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Just to add that chumphon now has a new 3g mobile internet option: MyByCat (post paid) and Truemove H, which are actually the same network, just different resellers. ANY usb stick, mifi device, or smartphone with hotspot capability and the HPSA (UTMS/3G) frequency of 850mhz can be used. I created a thread in the mobile section tracking the progress in Chumphon area. So far it is good, although I'd still look into getting or keeping CDMA if you want "unlimited" unthrottled internet, if you are unable to maintain a landline internet.

There are two larger furniture shops where I've sourced chairs and other furniture. One on Hwy 327 after the Makro but just before HWY 4 overpass to go to Ranong/Bangkok. The other one is across the street from CAT office on HWY 4001. Also there are 3 electronic appliance shops Further down the street from Fame tour, not far from Krung-Sri Bank (Yellow Bank), and one on the street behind ocean mall (street adjacent to Fame). Speaking of Fame, they recently renovated their entire shop: New bar, new seats, etc, and they still have rooms for 200 baht shared bath or 300 baht private bath (no air cond).

Looks like Ok Mai restaurant on Thung Wua Laen beach is no more. It was great while it lasted. It is unknown if some of the great food will be moved to The Good Bar.

There have been several new housing/small business developments going on between Thung Wua Laen and Chumphon Town. Not getting too busy yet, but we'll see.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

1) Ok Mai Pizza has officially moved to Rawai (Phuket) under a new name, but most of the pizza food served has moved to The Good Bar. The quality is comparable as the owner learned directly from the previous Ok Mai staff.

4) looking for baby supplies and items, you really have to take the motorbike and look around several shops. Tesco will have certain things at certain prices that mom/pop shops will not have and vice versa. Like a certain mom/pop baby shop downstairs from the main tesco (near KFC) has some nice baby walking carriages and car seats, Tesco did not have any car seats or sturdy hard plastic hand carriages. The Tescos, Makros, Big Cs are the only stores we saw that have the disposable diapers, mom/pop stores only seemed to have cloth diapers. There are mom/pop stores near the corner of

Thanon Satadeang (Fame tour, Kasikorn bank) and Thanon Poraminmanka (Cat internet, Wirat Sin hospital, hwy 4001?). Right at the corner where the street light is a shop that sells kids uniforms and clothes; they might have some baby stuff we never looked. For the baby stuff, you make a left onto Thanon Poraminmanka and they are on your right hand side (first block). There is also a second smaller school uniform shop nearby.

5) I said above that Fame tour was the only place to get Visa Run. That's still mostly correct. You can get one at Farang Bar. But the mini bus will only pickup people on route to Ranong. So if you are not staying near Fame/Farang bar or another guesthouse nearby, you can get picked up on any of the main roads that connect to Ranong. Be on time (10 minutes early), and leave your phone number so they can call you if there are any issues. If it's your first time, I recommend departing from Fame/Farang Bar.

6) There are several places to wash your motorbike in the town. The prices have gone up to 70-100 baht for some of them, but there are still places where you can get it done for 50 baht . From either the night market road (Ocean Mall, Aeon ATM) or the other parallel road (fire station, provincial Technical College, Siyapai high school, etc), there are two perpendicular roads that connect the two: Payabal 3 (no street light) and Suksamur (street light at the fire station end). Either Payabal 3 or Suksamur have wash stations. It should be 50 baht at Suksamur to wash motorbike.

7) If you are looking for the rubber grips that go at the end of a walking cane, frames, crutches, trolley, etc, you are in luck. After hours of searching numerous pharmacies that SELL the canes, but not the end point rubber grip/cover accessory, I was able to find a shop that sells it. On the same street as Chumphon Hospital, if you coming out of the hospital, make a right and it should be on your left hand side about 200 meters. You will pass a baby supply store and a semi-exotic wood craft store. There will be a mini pharmacy and the crutch supply store will be right next door. It was 25 baht for the rubber grip.

8) I figured out where the fresh (unshaved) young coconuts are. Occassionally you will see random people selling them, but there are a couple of places you can get them all the time. Not far from Chokanaan Bus Station (TMB/Siam Commercial Bank). If you are coming out of the bus station onto the main street facing the 7-11, make a left and the lady at the end of the market usually sells them for 5-8 baht a piece, and most of them are kept on the stem. In Pathio (saphli) Thung Wua Laen, there is a man that will get them and deliver them to you for 10 baht each, and he usually tosses a few extra in for free. He is located adjacent to the Thung Wua Laen Elementary school, across and to the right of Relax Thai Massage shop. His seem to always be sweet.

9) There is a newer massage place in the chumphon town, on dead end road (only motorbike can cross over the railroad tracks) across the street from the Christian School. 120 baht/hr for thai/foot massage; same pricing for foreigners and thai. No air conditioning, but it doesn't get too hot with the fan. In the evenings during the week from 4-7pm it does get busy sometimes for walk-ins, but you can reserve a spot ahead of time via phone or walking in early

The massage shop, Relax Thai Massage in Pathio (Sapli) should be opening up again soon sometime in Sept, 2012.

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

An addition to the comprehensive information already supplied, Immigration comes to Tesco on the second and fourth tuesdays of each month, and they now offer a full visa service, not too sure about applications but you can do all your renewals ans ninety day reporting there, my wife got really fed up with the chaos that all the Burmese and Laos people were causing, she suggested they impliment a numbering system, they now have two different ailses, one deals mostly with the people from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, while the other takes care of the other visa requirements, much quicker and efficient now.

1

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

- chumphon town is getting a bit busier. There are several new shops popping up on the main road leading out towards Hwy 4 (ranong/bangkok), including a HomePro, Amway (already finished), a large construction supply shop, and a few furniture shops. Looks like a few housing and apartment developments are on the way also.

- Nok Air has 2 daily flights to chumphon airport now from Bangkok. I'm not sure how the shuttle service will work to/from the town.

- MyCat has changed their myClick plans slightly. It's now the My Data Unlimited. The english version isn't available, but you can get the gist of it. Cat CDMA is still going strong, but my modem broke and I cannot get a replacement battery. So it seems like the best deal for redundant internet is MyCat 3G with either ToT or 3bb ADSL. True-H seems to have altered their plans, maybe for the worst. My / True uses 850 Mhz 3g frequency.

- Tot/3bb is no longer full in Saphli (pathio) area. i am going for the 3bb since CDMA is no longer an option. Saphli where I stay i am limited to 10Mb down/ 0.5 Mb up package due to the distance from the hub. That will have to do for now, but neighbors say they've had no problems with service from 3bb.

I have not checked with True to see if they have cable service. Cat said they did not have cable broadband in pathio (sapli). She didn't look like she double-checked to be sure. but only ToT and 3bb have advertised their internet service out here

- in 99% of the cases, getting the discount cards from all the major food restaurants like mister Donut, Swensons, Pizza Company, etc are worth it.

- People have asked if the prices for the beach bungalows are still the same. They are for the most part. You can get bungalows for 5,000/mo without aircon or 8,000/mo with aircon. Daily prices are 300-1500 depending on the place; Cabana Resort side tends to be more expensive.

- Pirates Terrace Cafe is now doing pizza with delivery. Ok mai and the Good Bar has now combined to M&D restaurant, right next to the minimart at the Seabeach end of Thung Wua Laen Beach.

- There is a beachfront home for rent (4 bedroom / 2.5 bath, dual balcony) for about 35k baht. A separate ad will probably be put in the classifieds.

- Visa situation is pretty much the same. Some recent examples of a successful visa are in the Visa forum. Here is a good example.

It seems like the best time to get a trash can from O-bato is shortly after Son-gran holiday. Best to pay by the month or every 2 months, so this way if you have a problem or need a new can, you actually have someone to talk to. If you pay the fee all at once, you will most likely be forgotten for the rest of the year.

Share on other sites

Maat can you say what Chumphon is like over Songkran, and does any know the times of the buses from Bangkok?

Chumphon has always been on my list of places to visit, perhaps I will actually get round to it now.

Not sure where I said that, but it would be 150-250 baht. but that's in the town. On the beach it is less likely to find those. 300 baht is more like it. Maybe the good bar has some for 200 baht, not sure.

Thung Wua Laen Beach is very popular option during Songkran. The Friday and Saturday the road going down the beach is packed and it is made one way only, although you know motorbike can sometimes violate this. The main road will have some people with buckets and water.

Swan-na-tee tour, Chokenean Tour, and at least 10 other tour companies come through Chumphon, but Swanatee and Chokenean I know go directly to the town. They have 1st class buses throughout the day, but the last one usually leaves at 10pm